On July 23, the U.S. House of Representatives took a measured and bold move to block any mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically engineered crops. The house voted and passed HR 1599, which created the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.

Restaurants are looking for ways to harness the benefits of social media and digital technologies that benefit both customers and restaurants, which can be achieved with mobile gamification strategies.

With a push from online ordering channels, customizable assembly line concepts, where consumers build their own products, continue to explode in the fast casual and QSR space. They are driving change in decades-old methods of service.

From an Under Armour installation that tests athletic ability to a Warby Parker photo booth experience, interactive customer experience was the order of the day at the inaugural Interactive Customer Experience Summit, held June 28-30 at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower.

Although the 12 month delay is welcome by some, brands should not use this time to rest on their laurels. Menu labeling is not going away and the faster restaurant operators can take the step toward compliance the better off they will be when the regulations do take effect.

While the U.S. Department of Labor proposed regulations contain a number of significant changes, of most concern to restaurants is the proposal that the minimum salary for an employee to qualify for most overtime exemptions would increase from $455 to $970 per week.

No matter what other problems your restaurant faces, if you can consistently get enough people in the door those problems ultimately will not matter. High traffic will almost always lead to higher profits.

During "Tablets: When, Where, Why and How" at the ICX Summit in Chicago, Dickey's discussed its custom-developed business intelligence service called Smoke Stack that analyzes data to help the restaurant connect with customers and increase sales.